Runs in the Family
by XrosaryX
Summary: It's not always a game of cops and robbers, the attraction just happens. A story of a certain thief's parents and how their meeting may have contributed to perhaps his own love life. The story of Connor Cooper and meeting his match, a story that has never been read until now.
1. An Introduction Long Overdue

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SLY COOPER!**

 **Welcome to the start of this new story of mine! This story has been plaguing me for months now and I'm finally writing it out. This will focus on Sly's father and his mother. Hopefully I will write more Sly Cooper fanfic, but at the moment here is the story I give you.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

 **An apology for any spelling or grammatical errors missed within the story.**

* * *

So...Where do I begin?

I'm pretty sure you've heard of me, and if you don't well it's time for us to get acquainted. The name's Connor, Connor Cooper. Though by the good forces of INTERPOL I've been dubbed as many other things, but we'll get to that later.

As a Cooper I follow the family business and that business is thieving. My family isn't just normal thieves mind you we're master thieves and as master thieves we make it our rule to steal from other thieves. There is no honor, no fun, or no challenge when you steal from ordinary folk and when you steal from a criminal well...You get the drift at least.

Now I shouldn't be credited with all the work, after all I got two best team members who help me out with my heists.

The first is Dr. M, who is the Brains of our thieving gang. Now he and I aren't close really. While he's got the smarts to get past the security and make our plans, there are times when I give my two cents in and that usually ends up with us either compromising over the plan, making only one of us happy, or changing the plan entirely until we're both happy. Dr. M is someone I consider a friend though and without him I wouldn't be able to slip away from the scene of the crime.

He's saved me a number of times.

Then there's Jim McSweeney, the Brawn. Unlike me and M, Jim and I are close...Brothers almost really. He's the guy to turn to when you need a few guards out cold on a good heist night. I've never seen someone fight like him and to be honest he makes a pretty good sparing partner, if you don't mind having a pair of tusks rammed into your side.

I can't ask for a better team than them and we've been heading towards the top for a good few years now...As long as INTERPOL doesn't stop us.

The law and my family aren't exactly chummy if you know what I mean, in fact they do like to throw a few nicknames here and there for me. That "Thieving Ringtail," that "No good Cooper," or the "dirty rat with a stick" are a few that seem to be the favorites so far as well as being the most appropriate ones I have to mention. For law abiding officers they have a rather creative way of calling me out.

One INTERPOL cop in particular seems to have made it his mission to end me and my crew.

That cop is known as Emilio Tapia Fox or rather Inspector Fox as he likes to be called. While it is a problem to have this guy chasing after my team, just ticking him off makes the job all the more sweeter. Seeing him so angry when we manage to pull off a heist makes our night.

Rather seeing any officer throw down their gun and scream out, "COOPER!" Makes us all grin.

My team is at the top of our game and now all that's left to do is a big heist. Stealing something so huge that it could be considered the biggest accomplishment for us, but what? There has to be something that we could pull to make us the greatest band of thieves ever. I look forward to whatever it is we decide to do, who knows maybe Inspector Fox might actually catch us...

...Maybe. Ha.

* * *

 _Greetings from the writer, hello!_

 _A short start, but there will be more to come I promise you! This gives you a bit of insight on what Connor is like, still playing around on how I really want him to be like. Thank you all so much for reading and hope you continue to read on!_


	2. New INTERPOL Agent on the Block

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SLY COOPER!**

 _ **Now without further ado here comes another update! Enjoy!**_

 **Note: Please accept my apology for any missed spelling or grammatical errors!**

* * *

 **Paris, France**

 **1:45 AM**

Despite the still present night life of Paris, one particular building's activity had if not been set to only faint light within. The lights those of the security guards' flashlights and the mention detection laser throughout the cold marble structure.

The gallery building tucked away in the darkness had only recently open, with artwork that was most certainly unoriginal. Though no one knew or would even think the canvas' of the paintings inside were just empty flats with money in cold hard cash stashed in them. The owner was nothing, but a criminal who always opened a new gallery under a new alias. Taking in art lovers' money for his works of art only to take the money with the art and running out of town to do the whole thing over.

But not after tonight.

Though, it would be a challenge to uncover this criminal's scheme.

A young male fox with brightly orange fur patrolled the front of the building, a bright gold badge pinned to the front of his tan duster jacket indicating his high rank of INTERPOL. The male fox stopped his pacing to take out a walkie talkie from his coat pocket. "This is Inspector Fox, how goes the rounds?"

"Nothing to report sir," a voice of one of the INTERPOL officers inside replied through the static, "In fact it seems too quiet. Are you sure they're planning on this building?" Emilio glared at the communication device in his hands before snarling. Of course the night had been slow, but his instincts told him that the notorious Cooper Gang would strike tonight. "If I know that Ringtail," the inspector growled as he looked up at the night sky, "This is something he wouldn't dare try to miss. Keep an eye out, don't let your guard down understood?!"

"Yes sir!"

Emilio pocketed the walkie talkie back before glaring hard up at the moon, "I'm onto you Cooper...Just you wait. Tonight you're gonna be behind bars."

The fox however failed to notice a masked figure up on the roof of the building, grinning to himself as he stared below. Despite his fur being lightly tinted in a blue hue, his position in the shadows made it impossible to spot him even when the inspector on the ground had taken all precautions to try and find him. With another quiet chuckle to himself, the figure carefully climbed higher on the roof as he placed a hand over his ear.

"Looks like the fox is at the chicken coop," the figure joked as he made his way to the skylight of the roof, "Too bad the raccoon beat 'em."

"Very funny Connor," a voice replied from the other side of the ear piece of Connor's ear, "But this is no laughing matter. Fox has taken rather large steps to ensure all the paintings of the gallery to be protected. He placed more lasers and guards more so than usual...I honestly cannot comprehend how determined he is just to take us all to jail. Surely he has better things to do."

"M, we're talking about Inspector Fox, Emilio Tapia Fox," Connor reminded his team member as he carefully began to carefully dial in the combination on the skylight's padlock, "Pretty sure he spends his whole life just thinking on capturing us. Not a fun guy ya know?" The raccoon could hear the mandrill sigh at his statement and he could just see the Brains of his team nod in agreement before speaking again.

"All too true though, now Connor when you enter inside you must go straight to the backroom and unlock the door to allow Jim and I to get inside. From there he and I will make our way to the loading deck and handle the other party. The paintings you have to get are-"

"Yeah, yeah I know," the thief lightly scoffed, "M c'mon we went over this plan like enough. Take the paintings down, put the cash in the bag and put 'em back up with a certain little reveal that they're fakes. The real names of the artists are in the top left corner of all the paintings. No problem." M could be heard making a light growl at Connor's interruption as the raccoon laughed lightly, "You gotta relax sometimes M. We've done this enough times. This isn't our first run around the track."

"You sometimes make it seem that way," M growled before sighing again just as a light click was heard from the lock, "Just hurry up and get us in. Don't get too distracted."

"Focus is my middle name M," Connor answered before setting the lock aside and opening the skylight before quickly slipping in.

Carefully landing on the floor, Connor crouched lowly as he glanced around the hall. Luckily there were no guards stationed and he had the luxury of straightening up as he reached back into his backpack and pulled out a curved item shaped similar like a C. Grinning the raccoon grasped the top and bottom before pulling the end until he was holding a cane within his hands. The slight gleam of the golden C curve at the top only made his grin grow as he began to venture further into the hallways.

The soles of his boots making no sound as he carefully crouched and ducked from view whenever a light began to shine towards his direction.

The adrenaline he was feeling as he made his way only grew as the grin on his face remained. While Emilio had increased the amount of man power to guard the building he had overlooked at just how sneaky Connor was in hiding. The task of making his way towards his teammates wasn't something he feared, no this was a game of hide and seek.

And he was winning.

Just like his ancestors the craft of thievery was something they had all mastered and enjoyed. The Cooper Clan were thieves of honor and stealth, the master thieves of all time and the world.

Before long he had finally reached the back door of the gallery and opened it. There stood a short mandrill and a rather large walrus, one looking annoyed while the other happy upon spotting Connor in the doorway. "Would you like a complementary picture for entering the gallery?" Connor snickered as he backed away as the two entered. "Ha ha very comedic Connor," the mandrill answered with a roll of his eyes, "Not the time to joke."

"All work now play makes M a dull boy," the raccoon teased as he leaned against his staff to look at the walrus, "You good Jim?"

"As I'll ever be," the purple walrus told his friend with a thumbs up, "M and I can handle these clowns you just go get the goods and we'll beat it on out of here!" The thief and his Brawn member grinned at each other, M watching the exchange with an unamused expression. While he did consider the two his friends there were times he just didn't feel like they considered him anything, but a teammate.

Shaking his head the Brains of the Cooper Gang cleared his throat, "Right now Jim let's get going. Knowing Inspector Fox he'd might have placed some of his officers on the way so we need to knock them all out. We also have to take care of this cretin's lackeys, Connor don't you cause trouble."

Connor resisted the urge to roll his eyes at this, but refrained as he gave a nod, "Got it! Just give me about...Fifteen minutes tops. It'll be over before you know it." M shook his head, but Connor would see a slight twitch at his lips before he rushed back out into the hallway just as his two teammates also made their move towards the furthest part of the gallery.

The thief used his cane to pull him high up onto the wall, his back resting against the cool stone as his feet were carefully positioned on the slight ledge above the floor. From his newest place he could make out the guards and the lasers heading towards his target area. "Well, well Fox you outdone yourself," he complimented the officer outside as he carefully maneuvered his way on the wall's ledge, "But...You gotta try harder."

Soon enough the raccoon's bag had been filled to the brim with the hidden cash and the paintings all laid out bare on the wall. Free of their frames and the corner of each with the paint scratched off revealing many different names. The true artists' names of the stolen artwork. Come morning everyone would learn of the gallery owner's scheme and he arrested by very INTERPOL agents he had pleaded to guard his "art."

All that was left now was to make it to the loading deck and meet up with his teammates. Pulling himself back onto the ledge he began to make his way only to stop as he peered through one of the windows towards the front.

Connor could faintly make out the bright orange fur of Inspector Fox and his trademark duster jacket, but instead of his usual pacing the fox was yelling into his walkie talkie. His tail fluffed out as he continued to yell though Connor couldn't quite make out his words. He could faintly make out the words 'why' and 'who' from the inspector's mouth, but anything else he couldn't quite get.

Whoever he was talking to, Connor was a bit sorry for the poor sap.

The ear piece in his ear sparked up with static just as he jumped down. "...M?"

The raccoon could hear a faint muffled voice, M's probably, until the connection cut off and silence was heard again.

 _"...That...Was odd,"_ he mused to himself as he hurried towards the meeting place, _"Better hurry..."_

The raccoon came to a halt however when he spotted a bright red dot suddenly land in front of him on the floor. A bright red flare soon hit the spot he would have been in had he not skidded to a stop on time.

"Wha-"

"Freeze criminal!"

Connor turned towards the sound of the voice and his jaw dropped. While he had expected to run into Emilio, he had been unprepared at the idea of running into anyone else who would take a confrontation with him.

Before him stood a female raccoon, her fur a dark gray color and her long black hair in a braid that was draped over her left shoulder. His eyes were however trained more on her bright amber brown eyes that glowed brightly as she held up her pistol towards him.

The gleam of the color was so clear that Connor couldn't think of anything to compare them to. They were unlike any clear jewel he had ever stolen and he nearly forgot just where and what he was doing if not for her next words.

"Connor Cooper right?"

"Uh wha?" Connor shook his head as he finally looked down from her eyes to something else. A bright gold INTERPOL badge pinned right on the right front of her black button shirt made his grip on his cane loosen slightly, "Wait you're an INTERPOL cop?!"

"Very observant for a thief," the female raccoon snapped as she continued to hold her weapon, "Inspector Fox asked for a few extra hands and I took it upon myself to help out even if I just arrived. It's coons like you that give the rest of us a bad name." Connor shook his head again as he looked at her then to her badge, "...You're...An INTERPOL..Cop?"

The female raccoon let out a snarl as she fired yet another flare towards him at his remark. The thief raccoon jumped and quickly barrel rolled out of the way as the shot hit the wall, leaving a rather large burn mark upon the stone.

"Whoa, pretty impressive fire arm there ma'am," he remarked as he dusted himself before grinning towards her, "Though have to say, coming on pretty strong onto me for a first meeting." Connor removed his hat and dusted it as he watched her face turn a bright red.

"Shut it thief! And for your information the name's Susannah Blake, and you'll be calling me Miss Blake or rather Inspector Blake while I'm interrogating you in a cell!" With that another flare shot was fired his way, only to miss and leave another black mark on the hard surface it landed on. Susannah glanced around in alarm, not believing the thief had disappeared before her eyes that quickly until she heard a whistle.

Turning she spotted her intended target, resting on top of the head of a nearby statue. Connor's grin was wide as he rested his cane across his shoulders, "Now I may play the cops and robbers game with Fox often, but I can make it a special case with you Miss Blake." Susannah could only grip her pistol harder and began to pull the trigger continuously as she finally let her frustration at his words.

"Don't think you can play around with me Cooper!"

Connor happily laughed as he began to leap forward at her onslaught.

Leaping from one statue to the next he found himself at the door leading into the loading deck, jumping over a few knocked over guards and lackeys he finally spotted M and Jim in one of the large white trucks. M, spotting him from his seat in the open back, began to wave his arms frantically as Jim immediately turned the vehicle on as he began to yell along with the mandrill.

"WHAT DID YOU DO COOPER?!" M screamed as Connor slid into the back as a blast came from behind the raccoon only a few moments after entering the area. The raccoon only smirked as he grabbed hold of the truck's edges and saw Susannah heading towards them, "Ah nothing really, gun it Jim!" The walrus needed no encouragement as he had already slammed the gas making M and Connor topple backwards just before Susannah had a chance to fire.

Connor watched as the female INTERPOL agent glared towards him as he gang drove away. The fur of her tail fluffed out as her amber brown eyes kept their focus on them with her braid loosened from the chase. Her chest heaved as she gasped for breath until she inhaled before throwing her hands up in the air and screamed his last name.

Unlike the times Emilio had screamed and cursed him, Connor couldn't help feeling a bit of endearment at hearing Susannah scream. It looked like he had a new "friend" in this.

* * *

 _ **First official chapter complete!**_

 _ **It's a little fast paced, I know, but I feel that this will put the story in motion now. I really hope you liked the heist scene, this is actually the first time I tried to write a scene like that. Hopefully over time it'll be better.**_

 _ **I hope you all enjoy this chapter and thank you for reading. Until next time~**_


	3. Aftermath at INTERPOL

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SLY COOPER!**

 _ **Just throwing as many updates as I can whenever I can! I've been working on a few of my older stories as well and brainstorming some new ones so it's all been typing on my end. Please enjoy this new chapter!**_

 **Note: An apology for any and all missed spelling or grammatical errors I may have missed during my editing!**

* * *

 **Paris, France**

 **8:20 AM**

 **INTERPOL HQ**

"Do you have any idea what you just did?!"

A much younger officer at a door nearly dropped the two coffee cups in his hands as he heard a shout from the room. The poor man backed away and fled, knocking his left arm onto the corner which resulted in the coffee spilling onto him.

Though he was more panicked on just leaving the area than the scotching hot pain as he kept running away.

Emilio sat behind his desk, his elbows resting on the dark wood as he pressed his fingers at his temples as he glared at the agent across from him. Susannah's legs were crossed at the knee with her arms also crossed over her chest.

Unlike Emilio, her face held a sense of calm and almost boredom as she listened to him. "I specifically told you to call me or any other officer in the facility if you ran into Cooper," the fox nearly snarled as he felt irritated at the female raccoon, "You only just transferred in and-"

"I can take care of myself Inspector Fox," Susannah finally spoke up as she dropped her hands onto her lap, "And for the record had I not acted and called, I wouldn't have been able to pursue Cooper as fast as I had." The other INTERPOL officer's ears flattened instantly at her tone, but continued to keep his narrowed eyes on her. Susannah only tossed her head up slightly as she stared off at the corner of his office, "Yes I transferred in, but you should be aware that this isn't my first case."

"Susannah-"

"It's Inspector Blake or Miss Blake," she snapped as she turned her head back to him. Her arms were instantly crossed over her chest again as it was her turn to glare at him, "We are going to be professional here and as such you have to also understand I'm not some helpless officer just fresh out of the academy. You know how capable I am and as a part of the Cooper Case, I want you to treat me just as anyone else in the department that is involved. I know you chase Cooper just at the very sight at him so I don't want you pointing the finger at me and scolding me."

Emilio sighed and leaned back into his chair, his arms raised up in the air as he shook his head. He could feel a slight throb at the back of his head that threatened to extend out the longer he argued with the raccoon in front of him. Again he sighed before muttering a slight curse in his native Spanish tongue and focused his gaze back to Susannah.

Her tail swayed to and fro as she awaited his final words, sometimes Emilio wondered just what had changed between them over the years.

Yes she was capable, but he was just not comfortable having her out in the field...This had been his case for years and for her to be a part of it...

"Fine, you're right," he finally sighed, "I apologize...Inspector Blake. Though I would have liked that you have informed me of your arrival and your confrontation of Cooper. Next time please notify me. We will be on the case together on certain times, as such communication between us is important...I hope you will keep this in mind."

Susannah nodded before standing up, "I will sir. Now if you can excuse me I need to write up my report on last night's events. You can expect a copy of it on your desk by this afternoon." The raccoon gave the fox a nod before turning on her heel towards the door. "Whatever happened to us..."

Susannah halted, her fingers only grasping the doorknob lightly before glancing at Emilio who had returned to his previous position with his arms resting on his desk. His ears were flat against his dark brown hair as he stared at his co-worker. Susannah's own ears were flat against her hair as well and she could only look down to the floor before shaking her head. "...Time Emilio that's all. We started working and we just couldn't handle it." She gave him a weak smile before pushing the door open, "...I got work to do."

"...So do I," the other officer agreed as he quickly turned his attention to the open folder at his desk. By the time he gathered himself to look up he could only watch his door shut close with Susannah's darken silhouette moving from his office to her own.

* * *

The raccoon INTERPOL agent settled down in the chair at her desk, carefully setting her flare gun to the side as she began to turn on her computer.

The gun had been her own design and was about identical to Inspector Fox's infamous shock pistol. However unlike his gun that had him constantly forcing him to refocus his aim, hers had a laser pointer that allowed her to fire out multiple strings of flare shots at her target without the need to adjust her arm position as she chased after criminals. The only downside was the pointer usually gave away her position much like how Cooper had stopped himself in time before being burnt.

Usually the sight gave her targets a second to freeze in confusion, perhaps Cooper had only been lucky.

Shaking her head Susannah pulled her chair closer as she began to type up her report.

After the Cooper Gang had escaped she had noticed the loading deck had a fishy feeling to it. Upon further investigation she came upon a number of paintings all of which duplicates and covers to the amount of money stashed in the canvas'. Soon the others in the gallery found the paintings Cooper had taken out of their frames to reveal many names that were not of the owner's. The "owner" was soon arrested and all the original paintings given back and credited to the real artists.

The female raccoon paused in her typing as she remembered the sight of the male raccoon.

While she had been given his file upon her arrival to Paris, she had to admit seeing him in person was very different. His fur was an odd blue color, something unusual among raccoons that hadn't really been caught well in his photo. He was much taller than she had thought and had a build that she could tell was much more muscularly formed than what she had assumed with his acrobatic skills could have provided. The blue cap on his head and black mask concealed his face rather well...If only they hid that stupid grin of his better when he started talking to her.

Susannah quickly raised her hands away from the keyboard forcing herself to exhale and shake her head as he remembered his words. She didn't need to break her poor keyboard at the sudden wave of frustration of last night's events.

Upon learning she was a part of INTERPOL he was greatly surprised and began to push on her buttons, no wonder many officers before Inspector Fox had given up on trying to catch him. They must had all been fed up at his talking and quit. Tucking a strand of her black hair back she continued to type her report. The pressing and ticking of the clock the only sounds in her office for a good two hours before she stopped.

She glanced around her office curiously at the sudden feeling that she was being watched.

Her office had only one door leading out into the hallway and one window that was situated at the very back of the room which overlooked the busy streets of Paris as the residents began to wake up to a new day. Like all the other offices, her office had come with a desk and chair along with the computer and two metal filing cabinets that lined up against the wall. Her desk was placed in the far left corner of the room at an angle that allowed her to see both the window and the door easily. At the moment her office looked bare and there was a small stack of boxes and open folders placed close to the door. The clock was put right over the two cabinets, a simple circular clock that ticked away the minutes.

Susannah again did a quick sweep over her office before shaking her head and continuing to type her report again.

She failed to notice a flash of blue dash across her window and down to the streets.

* * *

 **Paris, France**

 **1:15 PM**

 **Cooper Gang Hideout**

Connor sat behind his desk, his computer on as he began to type in a series of codes. While M was the usual hacker of the gang, Connor sometimes used his own hacking skills to look into little bits of information that he didn't want the rest of his team to know. The humming of the machine indicated the screen was loading and soon enough he was staring at the information he had been looking for.

After last night, M and Jim had retreated to their rooms to get a much deserved day of sleep yet he just couldn't sleep right away.

The new INTERPOL agent he had encountered continued to appear in his head as he laid down on his bed. He needed to find out more about her...He just couldn't get why, but he had to. So without waking up his companions he began to make the long trek towards INTERPOL HQ.

While it was a risk to be seen in broad daylight sneaking around the very organization wanting to send him to the slammer, Connor was very lucky and managed to find her office on the very first try. Prying open the only window in the room he cautious entered, taking in the still empty space that gave the idea she had just moved into the room.

A stack of boxes and folders right by the door earning his attention as he grabbed one of folders on the top.

Surprisingly or rather not it was his file. Smiling to himself he took in the notes written on some of the papers inside. This confirmed that she was a part of his case now. Putting the folder back in place he quickly made his way to the window, just as he caught sight of a silhouette right outside the door.

Settling down on the ledge outside he pushed the window closed just as the door opened. Pressing himself against the wall of the building he let out a sigh of relief as he heard a chair being pulled out on the carpeted floor and someone turning on the computer. After a few moments he curiously peered inside.

Susannah was seated behind her computer, her fingers rapidly typing away as she focused on the screen. There were a few moments she would stop, either to push her hair back from her face or to raise her hands from something that had crossed her mind. He smirked a bit at how her expression changed from a neutral expression to one of annoyance.

It was nice to know he had left a lasting impression of himself for her.

Her tail suddenly stopped swaying after two hours and he quickly jerked back from the window as her face finally looked away from her computer. A few moments later he peered into the office again and let out a sight of relief to see her amber brown eyes back on her screen before jumping down from his perch to the street below.

Arriving back home only moments later he set to work on finding more about this Susannah Blake. After all if she was in charge of his case, she would be around him just as much as Emilio had. Now he would have asked M to help him to make the process a bit faster, but he could just picture the mandrill stare at him.

He could even hear the very words the Brains of his team would say to him.

"Are you insane?" and "Are you certain you're not turning into a stalker Connor? We already have enough crimes on our records we don't need another more serious!"

"No, not a stalker, just curious," he told himself as he began to read his computer screen with his chin resting on his open palm. Those amber brown eyes were not going to leave his mind anytime soon.

So he might as well learn more about the raccoon with them.

* * *

 ** _Phew, and with that I think the stage is a bit more set up!_**

 ** _Just what is Susannah's and Emilio's past relationship and what will Connor find about Susannah he can use during their next encounter?_**

 ** _Thank you all again for reading and until next time~!_**


	4. Game Start Up

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SLY COOPER! AGAIN. I NO OWN SLY COOPER OKAY? OKAY!**

 _ **Thank you everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed or even just read this story! I'm very happy you all are enjoying the story. Please get ready to read another update~!**_

 _ ***Never give someone coffee late in the night. Ideas and writing won't stop until it is all done.***_

 _ **ENJOY!**_

 **Note: An apology for any and all missed spelling or grammatical errors I may have missed during my editing!**

* * *

 **Paris, France**

 **3:45 PM**

 **Cooper Gang Hideout**

According to the files Connor had obtained, Susannah Blake had originally been stationed in the United States' sector for INTERPOL for four years until transferring over to INTERPOL's Paris sector upon being assigned his case a week ago. The flare gun he had managed to dodge by sheer luck had an owner who had a reputation on arresting criminals in speed record time whenever she was assigned a case.

Meaning she never failed on apprehending a criminal, until last night.

He had been the very first to have escaped her grasp.

What interesting information he later found was that Susannah and Inspector Fox had been partners a long time ago after they both graduated out of the academy and were accepted into INTERPOL ranks. Connor thought back to last night and how Fox had been yelling into his walkie talkie, was the person he had been shouting at Susannah?

Either way it was rather suspicious how the partnership soon ended just when Susannah was assigned out to the states.

As long as he could remember, Inspector Fox had never had or mentioned a partner. _"Though we don't exactly sit down for a cup of coffee in the mornings and just talk,"_ he reminded himself as he read on.

She was noted on being a bit stubborn on cases and had always preferred to work alone after breaking off her partnership with Inspector Fox. Much like him, she seemed to have taken gymnastics and was noted at being very fast, matching to his skills at a certain level. The female raccoon had been able to keep up with him last night and Connor smirked as he remembered the look of rage that crossed her face while watching him and his team escape. For someone so angry, she didn't look half bad.

Connor halted his thoughts and shook his head, "No."

He was only looking into her files because he was curious and interested in her. But not that curious and interested.

Just as he was about to continue reading the door to his bedroom slammed open startling the raccoon to exit out of the window and stand up, his back covering the computer as he stared to see M and Jim.

"Uh...Hey fellas, thought you were gonna sleep in," he greeted them weakly as they stared at him, "Good afternoon to ya."

Jim raised an eyebrow as M crossed his arms at his leader's odd greeting before shaking his head. "Sleeping the day away is unproductive," he pointed out as he began to walk away, "There was something I found that may be of interest to us. Let's have a meeting in the living room."

"Oh sure thing," Connor answered as he looked up at Jim as he waited for his other teammate to follow after M. The walrus continued to stand in his doorway, by now his arms were crossed over just as M's had been earlier. Unlike the Brains, the Brawn member of the Cooper Gang could practically see Connor struggle to hide something. After leaving the gallery the raccoon had an odd expression on his face.

A smile had remained on his face as they drove off into the night, a smug smile with his eyes half closed as he let out a quiet chuckle once in a while. M and him were both on edge after finding out that another INTERPOL cop had been assigned to arresting them. However Connor remained aloof and told them not to worry so much about the new officer which came off as him being his usual over confident self. The behavior didn't struck odd to M despite him being the smartest, but ot Jim he knew something was up.

Jim had only seen this look when Connor's attention was caught by anything shiny that soon lead to him actually trying to take it. While it was a good thing for heists, sometimes it was bad while they were in disguise in public. Connor's odd tendencies to get intrigued and interested in anything usually was bad.

The raccoon would spend weeks to months just trying to calm his obsession of his focus by **a)** stealing it or **b)** finding something better.

Though something told the walrus this wasn't the usual case for those two options to be considered a fix to whatever caught Connor's attention this time. While Inspector Fox had been Connor's source of entertainment this new agent on the job seemed to intrigued the thief more...A lot more than anyone else from INTERPOL really.

"What were you doing?" The raccoon let out a nervous chuckle as Jim continued to stare him down, "What you mean? I was just in my room...Like you guys." Jim sighed and shook his head, no point in pressing the matter for now. If Connor was hiding something and wouldn't let him in it just only meant he wasn't ready to share and in time he would tell them. "Nothin' just meet us in the living room you know how M doesn't like waiting ya know?"

"Got it," Connor nodded as he watched his friend leave. Alone he sighed and quickly went to his computer to shut down the monitor. It was too close that he was almost found out and while he didn't want to hide what he had been doing, he couldn't exactly see his team understanding why he'd want to look into the new INTERPOL officer.

She was just like Inspector Fox, out to arrest them all. Why would they need to know anything else about her?

Though...Inspector Blake popped up again in his mind.

She had given him a lasting impression just as he did for her. He wanted to just figure her out...Maybe when he pushed her buttons enough would he stop being so interested and just see her another ordinary INTERPOL agent after him like Inspector Fox.

* * *

"Now, after fiddling and researching here and there I have found the perfect heist of the century for us to accomplish. It will make us go down in thieving history!"

M stood before them in the living room, a blackboard behind him with various drawings and calculations that Connor had seen him scribble on occasion many nights before. The mandrill pointed to a drawing of a diamond.

"So..A diamond?" The raccoon couldn't help, but feel a little disappointed in his friend. They had stolen plenty of diamonds before what made this one so special? M having read his mind answered, "Not just a diamond Connor...The world's biggest diamond."

Now that caught his attention. Beside him Jim also perked up, "How big we talking?" the walrus asked as M grinned, "Oh...Very very big. It was recently discovered and is scheduled to be on display here in Paris in only a few months. Now usually we could go to where it is and snatch it for ourselves, but after much research it is not wise to do that. As such I've researched a series of other heists for us to do as to not alert INTERPOL while we wait for the diamond to come here."

"Good thinking M," the leader of the gang complimented him, "Though pretty sure they'd still be prepared for us."

"True, but if we continue doing small jobs instead of just focusing on only this heist...They won't be prepared for the mast amount of power and surprise we will have for them."

"...Continue."

M could only grin as he continued, despite his slight annoyance at Connor's tone. "As of yet they are aware of how we work yet they continue to not place as much effort. Taking a long break would be a surprise for them and it won't take those Inspectors long to figure out our target. We use these heists as...Our practice trials. So when we do the real heist they'll face us with their normal man power, only to be taken by surprise at how much better we are. They won't see it coming!"

Jim immediately let out a gasp of awe, "You're right, we'd crush them!"

"Correction, you'd crush them," Connor laughed slightly as he nodded at M, "But yeah...That's a good plan M. It's perfect!" M grinned at his compliment, standing a bit taller as he looked at the board with pride. Finally, a plan that Connor and he didn't need to argue over or collaborate. It was all his own and he was being recognized.

With that he pointed to another section of the board, this one a drawing of smaller gem stones and an address.

"Our first heist practice, an exhibit of royal jewelry, well...Fakes really."

"I'm sensing a trend of forgeries happening lately," the raccoon commented, "First paintings and now jewelry...What's next?"

"Well these are fake only to the public. You see, the collector has purposed this exhibit as a way to display them to the world from royal and wealthy 'donators.' Foolish really, their prized possessions will be on display by real models and all will believe they are the real thing," M explained, "However it's a trick of course. The real items will be hidden in the museum's basement with their duplicates upstairs in the main part of the museum. By the time the exhibit is over and the owners collect their jewelry, it'll be too late."

"So we steal back the real things and return them?" Jim inquired as M took a piece of chalk and began to sketch something, "And what do we get."

"A few shots from INTERPOL if we're lucky and doing a good deed," Connor replied as he watched M with curiosity.

* * *

 **Paris, France**

 **6:30 PM**

 **INTERPOL HQ**

Susannah locked her office door, sighing to herself as she adjusted her hold on the handle of her brief case. A good long day at the office, and a load of papers to read at home.

The raccoon pocketed the key to her office into the pockets of her pants before taking the long walk down the hallway to the elevator. Around her she began to see other INTERPOL agents leaving and some propping their doors open as a sign they were going to be for overtime. The scene was something very familiar to her as she had seen the very same back at her old HQ though she would be the one still inside her office. Today had been purely focused on that report of hers and looking into a few past cases involving the Cooper Gang.

She had been given a pretty easy day as she had only just transferred, though she suspected Emilio had to have taken some sort of chance to ask for everyone to try and get along with her. Thinking back to her other officer on the Cooper case she could only sigh as she pressed the button for the elevator. It hurt already that she was one of the few female agents at work, but it irked her a bit to hear the fox trying to make things easy for her. She was a grown woman who could handle things herself and all be damned to learn she was not a push over in the slightest.

The ding of the elevator made her snap out of her thoughts as she stepped back a bit for any current passengers to step out.

Only one other person was on and she had remained in the furthermost corner of the elevator, smiling upon seeing Susannah. A female fox with dark blue hair nodded to her in greeting as she stepped on, "Long day huh?"

"You know it," Susannah agreed as the doors closed.

The fox's fur was just a shade darker than Emilio's orange fur and Susannah took in the other's attire of a simple black pencil skirt and tucked in white blouse with black heels as making the other appear very polished and professional. The two stood in silence for a while until Susannah spoke up, "My name's Susannah Blake...I'm the new transfer," she told the other and offered her hand out.

"Nilda Dulce," the fox smiled as she shook the raccoon's hand, "I work upstairs on the sixth floor as a secretary."

Well that explained the polished look...But the raccoon had to admit the other seemed to be hiding a lot more behind that prime look. Susannah knew INTERPOL would forever be known for their law enforcement, but she knew it wasn't a walk in the park for anyone who did any desk job. The fox before her had an air of authority despite how her outer appearance might say otherwise and Susannah had a guess the other could make anyone listen to her with ease with just a snap of her fingers.

"I heard you're also assigned the Cooper case," Nilda spoke up, "You work with Inspector Fox on it right?" The raccoon nodded as she pushed aside the slight feeling of resentment she had for the other fox for today. "Yes, though he lectured me after Cooper got away," she sighed as Nilda let out a hum, "I heard he goes chasing the thief as soon as he catches sight of him...Pretty hypocritical."

"The case hasn't been easy for anyone," Nilda explained as she tossed back her hair as she looked at Susannah, "Before Inspector Fox, we had a total of twenty-nine officers quit and resign from the case just after meeting Cooper." With that Susannah let out a whistle as she leaned back againt the elevator wall, "No way...That many? Well I can see how they all did though. That coon's got a mouth alright and I wouldn't mind giving him a good kick in the jaw to shut him up." Nilda giggled before shaking her head, "With you and Inspector Fox, maybe we can finally get some results!"

Susannah smiled to the secretary as the elevator stopped on the first floor and they both exited into the main lobby. Nilda adjusted the strap of her purse as Susannah went ahead of her and opened the door, "Hey...When do you get in tomorrow?" The raccoon felt a little jumpy at asking the question and glanced nervously down at the ground as they stepped out onto the sidewalk, "Uh...We could meet up for coffee or something. I'm still new and all and...Uh if you're not busy that is!"

Nilda shook her head, "No, I'm not busy at all. We could sit down in one of the break rooms for lunch and just talk. I don't have a lot of people to talk to and you seem pretty nice Miss Blake."

"Oh please don't call me Miss Blake!" Susannah protested with a wave of her hand, "Susannah's fine." The female fox nodded as both women let out a light giggle, "Then just call me Nilda. Well, we better head home...Which way are you heading?" The raccoon pointed to the direction behind the fox, "That way, I'm actually a few blocks away from the building...It's easier for me actually in case I get called in."

"Well...What do you know that's where I'm heading off to as well!"

Again both women smiled at each other before heading off in the same direction.

Whatever unpleasant feeling Susannah had from that morning had disappeared as she continued to chat with Nilda, it was nice to know she could make a friend here in this new place.

* * *

 ** _AND THE BUILD UP TO THE ULTIMATE HEIST BEGINS._**

 ** _I may or may not have struggled on this...Okay I did. Guess whose connected to Nilda ha ha. Ironically enough my aunt's name is Nilda and it seemed fitting to name our new character that._**

 ** _So I hope you all enjoyed this update and expect to see more! Until then~!_**


	5. Realization

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SLY COOPER! YUP NOPE ME NO OWN!**

 _ **A chapter to speed things along. Da dahhhh. I hope you enjoy it!**_

 **Note: An apology for any and all missed spelling or grammatical errors I may have missed during my editing!**

* * *

 **Paris, France**

 **11:52 AM**

 **INTERPOL HQ**

Susannah slowly became adjusted to her new life in Paris and also becoming close friends with Nilda.

The secretary had come through from Susannah's predictions and had a reputation of being a very sweet woman with the sharpest tongue when provoked. The few officers who had tried to talk down to Nilda were often sent packing with their tails and heads down after being ripped and torn apart from the secretary's words.

Both women had similar interests with each other and were often found during their breaks in the break room just chatting about their day or even discussing anything from books they read to any music they listened to.

The two women were also living in the same apartment and spent most of their days visiting the other in her apartment just to watch a few good movies or take a stroll around the nearby park.

While Nilda and Susannah had gotten along, Susannah and Emilio were...Not quite as close.

The male fox continued to withhold as much information as he could from her about any cases that were linked to Cooper's. In fact he had tried to hide a few files of upcoming art exhibits that would sure to lure in the criminal raccoon only to have Susannah at his door with a demand to see the files. The entire force of INTERPOL wondered if it was a good idea for the two to even be working together from the series of shouting that went on in their offices whenever they met, but could only watch from afar.

Now the raccoon and fox were sitting in her office, staring each other down at the latest folder open on her desk.

"So you think he'd try to take the jewels?" Emilio finally spoke up after five long minutes had passed, "What makes you say that Su-I mean Inspector Blake."

"Why you try to hide this folder from me Inspector Fox?" Susanah shot back as her face held a look of annoyance, "Obviously you hiding it from me is enough proof for the most part." Emilio let out a grunt before looking at the corner of her desk on the left. He had hoped she wouldn't have noticed, but he honestly should have reconsidered just how observant she was about his actions.

It had gotten around that he and her did not get along, but it was mostly him to blame with his treatment of her. Had it been any other officer he would have been more open and would communicate more. To Susannah it had been a tense game of hiding everything in hopes she wouldn't notice.

Honestly that tactic was something he really shouldn't have considered.

Sighing he shook his head, "...I apologize."

"Right," the other scoffed before studying the folder's contents.

Recently there was going to be a showcase of jewelry that belonged to royal families and treasured heirlooms. Donated to the showcase by these families for one night, all jewelry would be displayed upon real models and would be distributed back to their real owners by the end of the night. However Susannah raised an eyebrow at the coordinator for the event as well as a small note attached to their file.

"...He's been suspected of past crimes with illegal black market gem smuggling and creating fake duplicates of gems?" She could see Emilio nod and he took in her frown, "You do remember what happened during the gallery correct?"

"...Yes of course."

All those paintings...Stolen from their real creators and many art lovers being tricked out of their money. She really wouldn't have noticed either if the artwork not been free of their frames and the paint covering the real artists' names scratched off. Now that she thought about it...Cooper had taken the money and not the artwork which was much more valuable.

Across from her Emilio nodded again at the sudden change of her expression. "That's right. For some reason...The Cooper Gang only seems to target people who have criminal like records or suspicious activity we at INTERPOL can't really detect. Knowing this showcase and who runs it, Cooper is bound to be interested."

The female raccoon stayed quiet as she thought this over, "It's still a crime," she finally spoke up to earn a nod from her fellow inspector, "Yes it is. All criminals have to be arrested."

Emilio began to reach over towards her desk to grab the folder, only to have his hand stopped by her own. Startled he looked up at her as she dragged the folder close to herself, "I'll be reading this a bit longer Inspector Fox seeing how you hogged it all day. It'll be back on your desk by tonight don't worry about it." The fox slowly retracted his hand back before sighing, "Right...Well, I'll see you later Inspector Blake."

"Likewise," the raccoon called to him as he made his way out of her office.

Susannah waited, watching as his silhouette stayed right in front of her door before seeing his ears twitch and leaving. She sighed and pressed a few fingers to her forehead as if pushing back her headache that was coming out.

She had no idea if anyone knew that she and Emilio had been partners in the past.

So far it would seem they all thought they just couldn't stand the other, which was slightly true. It was just the feeling of awkwardness.

She had tried hard to try and work with Emilio, only to get angry at his attempts to keep her in the dark with as little information as possible. Was he just worried for her? Or he wasn't used to working with anyone after they went their separate ways. Either way they had to get rid of whatever tension was between them so they could actually get this case down. Reading over the file she paused as she again looked at the note attached.

She had assumed Cooper had targeted the gallery for the art...But to hear that he actually stole from other criminals shocked her. While he did keep the money the art bidders had given the criminal, she found this new discovery...Interesting. It intrigued her that this raccoon would actually steal from other criminals and had only assumed he was like any other greedy thief to go after anything shiny or expensive.

Though...In the end he was a criminal. While he did reveal the gallery owner's scam he still broke the law and instead of returning the money back to the bidders, had kept it.

"He's still a criminal," she muttered to herself as she began to write down a few notes onto a few papers scattered on her desk. If Cooper thought his gang were going to get out as easily as before, he was wrong.

* * *

Emilio stood in front of the coffee machine, watching the dark liquid splash down into the Styrofoam cup. His fingers combing through his hair until all of the strands were practically spiked up, only for him to quickly fix it. The inspector finally raised a hand to smack himself in the forehead and groan.

It hadn't been a great start for the day and he regretted having hid information from Susannah about the Cooper case. He really needed to work on that...

She was a grown up, an agent of INTERPOL just like him and as such should have been treated with better respect and communication than what he had done for the past few days. As partners they had been close, but as she had told him before time and work had changed them. The fox also wondered if how he acted during their partnership also affected her now in the present. They had a good partnership...And relationship.

Emilio silently groaned as he thought back over their break up in all aspects of work and romance.

Though it was mutual, there was a small part of him feeling guilty about it.

"You do know there are other people wanting coffee Inspector Fox."

The inspector jumped and looked to see a female fox behind him, two empty cups in her fingers while tapping the toe of her heels to the tile floor.

"Right...Sorry. Here." Retrieving his coffee out from the machine he walked away to the side as the other fox stepped forward. She expertly filed up the machine before putting the first cup in place and looked at him, "You usually don't come to this break room," she remarked as he took a small sip of his drink.

Emilio shrugged before flinching as he could taste the sudden bitterness, two cubes of sugar forgotten in his rush...He was about to walk around her and head to the small section of the counter by the machine to grab a packet of sugars only to have her take it. "Allow me."

The inspector stood in silence as she quickly opened two packets and poured in the sugar, mixing it quickly before handing it back to him. She took this time to take out her first cup out from the machine and placed the second one underneath. "...Thank you."

The female fox hummed at his words and focused on pouring a few drops of cream into the first cup.

After a moment of silence Emilio decided to speak up again, "I uh...Never seen you around." Well that was a brillant way to start a conversation with a stranger. The female fox raised an eyebrow, "Really? I'm usually at the front desk on the sixth floor and I'm always going around delivering a few files on this floor. I've given you a number of folders with no so much as a thanks."

By now he wondered if he was placed on this earth to just tick off women at this point before letting out a grunt and directing his eyes down to the floor.

The female fox only laughed at his reaction making him raise an eyebrow towards her when he looked back up. "You are too serious Inspector Fox," she scolded him and took out the second coffee from the machine, "I understand the Cooper case is hard. Though with Susannah you are getting more help than ever."

Emilio paused drinking his coffee and quickly lowered his cup, "You know Susannah?"

"We've become quick friends," the other fox smiled as she wrapped her hands on both coffees and began to leave the break room, "Try to give her more credit inspector. I don't know what is going on with you two, but...You really should trust her more. Besides, from what I hear she can give your shock pistol of yours a run for you money with that flare gun. Have a nice day Inspector Fox." With that she gave him one last smile and nod before leaving the room. Emilio stood there in silence staring after her before looking at his cup of coffee.

He had no idea what her name was, and she had given him the most obvious answer to how to repair the relationship between him and his fellow INTERPOL inspector.

Starting to the next time he saw her, he was going to try and give Susannah as much trust and communication as possible. Emilio gave himself one last gulp of coffee before heading out of the break room.

* * *

 **11:30 PM**

 **INTERPOL HQ**

He really was taking a lot of risks lately...

This was about the third time he had come by INTERPOL's headquarters and so far, nothing bad had happened to him.

Yet.

With the plan in motion for the heist tomorrow night, Connor found himself with plenty of free time. Most of it spent on perfecting a new move that would be his special move he would write in the Thievius Raccoonus for the future Cooper generation to read about. At the moment M had been busy creating a new hacking trick for him to use on the security systems during the exhibit from a safe distance.

While he usually came with Jim and Connor in the field, this would be a test run over a new program he was planning on trying out for their real heist. Just in case though he wouldn't be too far to not help them inside the building. Jim had continued to work out normally and promised that when he had a new trick up his sleeve he would share it.

Though Connor figured the walrus saw no real reason to go into a whole new routine just yet.

His fighting skills were still on point so until then he was just fine.

Despite all their goals in place, Connor continued being slightly distracted by the female raccoon INTERPOL agent. He had kept reading over her files and had taken a few field trips to her office.

By now the office had finally been furnished with her own belongings.

The bare walls were decorated with paintings of flowers and on the wall right behind her desk was a photograph of what was an overview of the city of Paris from the Eiffel Tower as the sun set low. Her desk while littered with papers had a bright teal blue lamp by her computer and a small glass bowl of what looked like wrapped candy right by her little name stand. By the door was a black iron metal coat hanger with a single leather black jacket hanging from it.

What caught his interest the most was the bookcase to the wall across from the cabinets.

There were books and boxes on the two lower shelf, but the two higher shelves of the bookcase contained small little displays of crystal figurines.

Slowly opening the window, Connor slowly made his way over to the shelves and inspected them. The crystal figures ranged from musical instruments to flowers and from flowers to tiny miniature animals...Connor's eyes widen in interest at Inspector Blake's collection. From the looks of how well they were displayed and the nonexistence presence of dust it was obvious these were very important to the inspector. He picked up one figure, a little dove resting on a tree branch, and inspected it.

"Never would have pegged her for a collector," he said to himself while putting it back down. There were a few empty spots on the shelves and smaller displays meaning she was still collecting, but Connor had a feeling she wouldn't be so focused on her collection for a while.

At least with him around.

Surveying the office again he paused at the folder laying open on her desk and read over it. The picture of a black rabbit dressed in ridiculous aristocratic clothing peered out at him along with a few reports of gem smuggling activity which had been highlighted in yellow along with a few notes questioning about the lack of evidence that had allowed the rabbit to bypass the law. Connor scoffed and shook his head, "Honestly...It's amazing INTERPOL lets some of these guys get away..."

Though he really couldn't blame them at some examples.

Some criminals he had encountered had been too sneaky that he and his gang had to be sure they were criminals before stealing from them. He never would have guessed just how many others would steal from others as well as harming them in the process.

Connor spotted something else on her desk and reached out to pick it up.

It was the flare gun she had aimed right at him the first night they met.

The pistol was much like the shock pistol of Inspector Fox's if not just a bit heavier for the heavier metal and the laser pointer attached on the top. Curious Connor lifted the flare gun and clicked the laser pointer on. The red line shined brightly in the dark room and Connor stared at the line of light with interest. Slowly he began to point the laser throughout the room, suddenly realizing how the line could easily allow Inspector Blake to shoot compared to Inspector Fox's pistol that required him to keep adjusting his aiming.

He suddenly snapped his head up at a sudden thought that entered his mind.

If he could slide and walk down ropes, wires and cords...What would make it possible for him to travel down lasers? It sounded crazy, but...

Quickly he set the pistol down as he heard the door beginning to unlock. Rushing to the window he quickly leap down to the window beneath her own on the window sill. He heard the inspector let out a quiet sound, "When did I leave the window open?"

He pressed himself against the window as he could see her stick her head out, scanning outside before shrugging and shutting it close. Breathing a sigh of relief he quickly jumped down to the street before smiling up to the lit window.

"See you tomorrow night, Miss Blake," he quietly said before heading back home.

* * *

 ** _DA DA DAHHH!_**

 ** _I really hope you all are still enjoying this story. Also I have not come up with a name for the criminal rabbit yet so if you have any suggestions or ideas of what name I should give him please let me know! I would love to hear suggestions._**

 ** _Again, I want to thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed this update._**

 ** _Until then~!_**


	6. A Good Day Start

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SLY COOPER! NEINNN!**

 _ **Don't you hate it when you got an idea or know what to write, then you can't for some reason type it up. Until like it hits you late in the night and you're wide awake with dread that you'll lose it? Yup that's what happened to me. I'm sorry for that!**_

 _ **I want to thank brave kid for suggesting the name for the villainous hare!**_

 _ **Please enjoy the chapter!**_

 **Note: An apology for any and all missed spelling or grammatical errors I may have missed during my editing!**

* * *

 **Paris, France**

 **8:15 AM**

 **INTERPOL HQ**

 **Conference Room**

"Tonight's prime focus is the jewelry exhibition being held tonight," Emilio spoke as he pressed the clicker to allow the slides of the power point appear on the wall behind him, "Now from our knowledge the jewels will be displayed on models who will be standing on raised platforms every thirty minutes. They are given a fifteen minute break to mingle with the people attending the exhibition and are free to remove the jewelry into a glass display box by each platform these women are assigned to."

A movement of pens were seen through the dimly lit room as a few officers sat around an oval table in the center of the room. Through the darkness he could make out Susannah easily from her position at the opposite end of the table, right across from where he stood at the head.

Her head was bent down over her notepad, her pen quickly taking notes as well as adding whatever bits she would later want to say probably as the meeting continued on. Inhaling deeply Emilio pressed the clicker again and a layout of the building was shown.

"Now," he pointed to the areas highlighted, "The event shall be on the first floor of the building, a few of you and your fellow agents will be stationed here. Some will be undercover and keep close watch on the models and their jewelry. The rest, along with myself, will be on shifts guarding the exits and entrance into the building. While the building has a second floor and a basement...I will not be in charge."

"That's a first," an officer to his left voiced, "You usually assign yourself all over the place Fox, who is in charge of those areas?"

"...Inspector Blake."

At the mention of her name Susannah's head snapped up from her notes as all eyes turned to her. Emilio cleared his throat for a moment before continuing, "Inspector Blake will be in charge of patrols in the basement and the second floor. She has excellent leadership skills and knowing Cooper, he'll likely target those two areas...As such, I expect everyone to listen as well as advise anyone else during this assignment to take her seriously. Will that be alright Inspector Blake?"

Susannah had remained quiet for a few seconds, her head turning to look at the other officers of the room before looking back towards him. Those amber eyes of hers stared at him for a good five minutes before she spoke up, "Of course Inspector Fox. Thank you for entrusting the task to me." Emilio released a shaky sigh of relief and nodded before continuing on with his presentation.

It wouldn't be a lie that he hadn't been nervous at her reaction.

His tail kept swaying as he kept on talking, going over the procedures they were all required to follow and what to do if there were any signs of criminal activity that wasn't linked to Cooper. After reading over her files again, Emilio had realized that out of the two of them Susannah was probably the most likely to catch up to Cooper during this assignment. While he had trained hard to keep up with Cooper, he wasn't quite as fast as the raccoon and though he could jump far there had been a few hiccups of him struggling to keep his pistol up to shoot.

Susannah had displayed quite a range of agility and acrobatics that could easily give Cooper a run for his money.

Her flare gun was also a lot more efficient in terms of aiming on target and if she couldn't hit the raccoon, it would be enough to be a signal to him that Cooper was in the area. Those flares gave off bright red lights and sounded off with a loud hiss, it would be impossible for him not to pick up with his hearing or sight. As such...Emilio decided to give Susannah his usual load of the assignment.

Usually during these types of assignments he would assign himself the most areas to be in charge of. Mostly because this was his case and also he wanted a higher chance at catching Cooper. However this time, he would be giving Susannah his usual workload. Originally he had wanted to place her on the first floor, but that would probably make her angry at him again and he had promised himself to give her as much trust as he could. His previous encounter with the female fox in the break room had given him the most obvious answer to repair their relationship and hopefully would break down whatever perspective he had built from his guilt about the raccoon.

"Are there any questions? If not, then you're all dismissed until the time of the assignment. Contact me or Inspector Blake if there are any conflicts."

The lights were turned on and he blinked his eyes a few times as he got readjusted to the light. Other INTERPOL officers began to gather their belongings and walked out of the room, probably to grab a cup of coffee before heading back to their offices. Emilio began to shuffle his papers into a neat pile until he noticed Susannah standing by him.

The female raccoon stared at him, her amber eyes still glowing despite the light of the room.

He stopped himself from gulping out loud and straightened up, "Is something the matter Inspector Blake?"

The raccoon put both her hands on her hips, tilting them to the left as she narrowed her eyes at him. Emilio forced himself to remain still and nervously tugged at the collar of his shirt while she stared at him in silence. Finally Susannah chuckled and shook her head, "No...Nothing wrong Inspector Fox. I only wanted to thank you again for giving me such a big part in this assignment." With that the raccoon lightly patted him on the shoulder before heading to the door to which Emilio froze up as he caught sight of the fox from the break room waiting for her by the door.

"Sorry Nilda were you waiting long?"

He heard Susannah ask to the female fox as the other shook her head, "No I didn't. We should head up to the usual break room. All the officers are bound to go to the ones close to the conference room and create a mess with the machine." Both of them giggled and left, but not without Emilio noticing the fox, Nilda, had given him a quick glance over her shoulder and smiled at him. This time he allowed himself to swallow the sudden lump in his throat at the sight of her smile and pulled away a chair from the table to collapse into it.

His face was still a bright red by the time he had forced himself out of the conference room and stormed back to his office.

It seemed he also had to deal with problems other than Cooper and Susannah.

* * *

 **Paris, France**

 **4:00 PM**

 **Cooper Gang Hideout**

Kaitou Hare.

From what M had found about the hare, Connor had to admit that he was a rather difficult criminal to pin down even with INTERPOL's usual stubborn attitude to criminals like him.

Originally from Japan, Kaitou was adopted into a very old yakuza family only to be overthrown by the biological daughter of the family when it was time for a new boss to take up the family head. Reduced to the lowest rank, Kaitou had left Japan and began to start a series of crimes with black marketing and creating fake gems in order to gain a profit. While stealing jewels from high classed victims, INTERPOL could never catch him in the crime. The hare's business was used as a way to fund his adoptive family while in return they protected him from possible investigations and arrest.

By becoming the main provider of his family, Kaitou had managed to gain a powerful position back into the yakuza.

Though according to the grapevine however after tonight the hare would pull every IOU from his adoptive family, thanks to his gem schemes, and secure himself back as the 'rightful' family head. Kaitou would do this by means of blackmail acquired from outside sources thanks to the very gems he used to buy his way back into his adoptive family's good graces.

The guy was a class-A back-stabber in the finest category of their time by the looks of it.

Tossing the folder back onto the table, Connor looked over and watched as M hunched over at his work table. While he could hear the usual sounds of metal upon metal and the whiz of his drill, Connor honestly had no clue what the Brains of the Cooper Gang was creating. All that he knew was that M would be able to hack into the security system while remaining at a distance away from the area. Whatever it was surely had to be M's greatest creation as even Connor wasn't given any information about it and as a brainiac himself at times with technology that left him excited yet doubtful.

Shuffling over the rest of the files the raccoon began to memorize the blueprints of the building the exhibition would be held.

There were three floors in total within the building that were the basement, first floor and second floor. From their plans they would focus more on the second floor and basement, the first floor being the main area for the event that had to be avoided at all cost. Inspector Fox would definitely beef up security around the area, but Connor knew it would be the basement that would be the most major part they would be focused on and to plan carefully around.

No telling what Inspector Fox would do in order to guard that area, but the gang would no doubt steer around it...If M just told him what to do. While Connor could have come up with an idea, he couldn't. As much as he hated to admit it the raccoon's plans had some major flaw or would overlook on small factor only to realize it wasn't small enough for it to throw a wrench in his plans.

Even with all the fights he and M got over plans, M in the end was needed to put his two cents in to perfect it.

"How goes that uh...Thing you're making?" Connor finally called out as he looked up from his papers. His teammate did not respond and Connor sighed as he watched the mandrill only chuckle as he held something up in the light.

The raccoon quietly groaned before forcing himself to walk over towards M. Peering over his shoulder Connor could make out a few scattered wires, screws and parts of what looked like a motherboard from a computer. The scattered mess gave him no clue to what M was doing and it only made the raccoon feel more irritated as he looked at M again. His entire body was hunched over whatever he was tinkering with and gave little room for Connor to look unless he wanted to be in the other's personal bubble which the raccoon rather not pop.

He waited for five minutes, standing behind M and hoped his gang's Brain would notice his presence. After five minutes passed and M did not acknowledged him did Connor sigh loudly before taking a deep breath in.

"M!"

This time his friend did respond.

The mandrill let out a yelp and swung around, one of his arms hitting Connor right on the left side of his face.

"OW! M!"

"This is why we don't sneak up on people in the hideout Connor!" M exclaimed as he watched the raccoon hold a hand to his left cheek, "It's not safe being behind me while I work!"

"Yeah well, you ignored me the first time so I had to get closer to get your attention," Connor grumbled as he rubbed the spot M had hit him, "What the heck are you doing anyway? It'd be nice to have some idea what's invested your time."

"Patience Connor, that is the key here!" M argued as he continued to keep whatever he was working on hidden from the raccoon's line of sight, "Just trust me on this." Connor resisted the urge to pry further and only let out a groan instead, "Okay fine, but could you at least give us some idea what the hell we're doing tonight?"

M let out a groan before grabbing a piece of fabric and tossing it over his work making Connor want to yank his fur out at this point. Seriously, what was so secretive about this invention?!

His curiosity would have to wait as M stormed past him and yanked the blueprints from the table he had been sitting at and place them up on the blackboard. "As of this moment, the first floor is of course the place we are to avoid at all cost," his friend informed him and began to draw out the building's levels on the board, "Jim will be handling the second floor while you try to find a way into the basement."

"Which I obviously figured out after I don't know...The past few hours," Connor scoffed as M rolled his eyes, "So? Jim's going to have to create a distraction big enough to get everyone out of the basement to the second floor right?"

"Correct Connor," M quietly mumbled as he drew their Brawn on the third level, "The second floor actually has that hare's office and with that his files about his ongoing plan. Jim will try to create enough ruckus as possible on the second floor all the while creating a path of destruction to that hare's office. Now in order to ensure he won't be captured, I will be using the new device I'm currently creating to create a temporary blackout for the whole building, but keep the second floor's power cut off. They'll need to keep those on the first floor as calm as possible and will probably send as much of their forces as possible to take on Jim. At this time you should be able to slip into the basement as long as no one's stationed from your point of entry."

With that M dropped the chalk into its box before sighing loudly while giving Connor a light glare, "Happy now?"

"For now yes," Connor glared back before sighing, "Sorry M, but seriously. This is going to be happening tonight and you and I both know we rather have everything in order before storming in at the very least. Besides you've been so focused on...Whatever it is you're working on, to really be focusing on what you're suppose to be doing."

"You and I both know that you have a brain too Connor," M shot back before walking back to his work table and sitting back down, "Honestly...I don't know if this will be even ready now that I spent my time explaining things to you."

Connor felt his teeth grit against each other and refrained from saying anything else to M. At this point the raccoon could only see picking a fight with M would be unproductive and they were a team, friends. This was not the time to be arguing and the raccoon could take a deep breath in before exhaling as loudly as he could before muttering something to M, "Alright, okay sorry buddy. I'll leave you alone, just be ready on time will ya?"

"Aren't I always on time?" the mandrill scoffed and began to work on his device again as Connor turned on his heel and made his way towards his room. Jim had emerged from his room just in time to see him before letting out a quiet whistle, "M's still busy?"

"Yup. Still tinkering with whatever it is he's doing," Connor replied before letting out a groan, "And he gets mad at me for not paying attention."

The walrus only let out a quiet laugh and shrugged, "Well you know him and his gadgets. Can't no one get his attention." Connor chuckled before tugging at the edge of his hat before heading towards his room, "I'm...Going to go get some air. I'll be back before we get going so make sure M doesn't blow up the hideout with whatever he's working on okay big guy?"

"Will do!" Jim happily answered before going back into his room as the raccoon gave him a thumbs up and disappeared into his own.

* * *

 **Paris, France**

 **5:45 PM**

 **Park**

Susannah leaned against the bench as she stretched her arms up into the air.

She had managed to slip away from the office for a little while and took advantage of her break by relaxing at a nearby park. She smiled to herself as she took in the sight of the still blue sky before letting out another sigh.

It had been a rather lovely day for once.

Emilio had given her a large part in their current assignment and had even gone so far as to praising her in front of their other fellow INTERPOL officers. She thought the fox had been joking and it was only after they were dismissed did she see he had meant what he had said. He was trying to at least give her a chance as well as perhaps respecting her as his equal.

The female raccoon leaned forward a bit until her hands were resting on her knees as she watched the few children still playing on the playground laugh and scream upon chasing each other or climbing up and down on the play set. She couldn't help, but smile as she watched them and let out a quiet chuckle as a few mothers lightly scolded them from a distance when they played a bit too hard.

It was no mystery that she loved children.

Back in the states, she was always the 'babysitter' when the few female agents of her branch needed to bring their children to work. While the other officers would disapprove of them, Susannah always offered to watch over their kids and in return had a large amount of respect with her female co-workers. It was tough enough for women to work in INTERPOL in positions other than those of secretaries and Susannah had been one of the rare few examples of an officer who wouldn't let herself be belittled regardless of her sex.

Not only was she strict, but she was also very gentle and after being taken home had been dubbed 'Auntie Suzy' by all the kids she watched.

It had...Been difficult leaving her previous branch and the change was much more obvious than back there. Her male officers seemed to not listen so much to their female counterparts and much like Emilio, tried to keep their involvement in cases to be as small as possible. However Susannah couldn't allow herself to think over those changes in a negative light and would face them the same way she did back then.

Her fingers grasped the fabric of her slacks tightly as she frowned. Tonight she would prove to them just how capable she was and that the last time she had barely managed to catch up to Cooper wasn't some lucky fluke of a mistake.

At that moment a cry startled her out of her thoughts and she turned her head towards the direction of the sandbox to see tiny little mouse crying in the sand with a small group of cats surrounding her. She glanced around the area and noticed that the mothers were too busy in a conversation to truly notice the disturbance and quickly stood up from her seat to advance towards the group. From a distance Susannah could barely make out what they had done, but coming closer she noticed that the small mouse had had sand dumped right on top of her head as well as a large pile of sand right at her feet.

The cats, three boys, had kept kicking at her and laughed the louder she cried.

"Now what is going on here?" she demanded as soon as she stood at the edge of the sandbox. Four pairs of eyes instantly looked up at her, one pair red with tears still flowing out while the others all wide from surprise. "I reckon you three aren't picking on this sweet mouse are you?" she questioned as she crossed her arms. The tallest of the three cats blinked at her words before glaring up at her, "So what?! She's not your kid!"

"And? It isn't right to pick on someone," Susannah calmly explained to him as she looked at the other two, "Why are you kicking sand at her? She didn't do anything wrong did she?"

One cat with bright orange fur finally spoke up and pointed to the mouse, "She's in our territory! We always get the sandbox and she showed up!"

"The playground is for everybody!" the mouse finally spoke up even as she hiccuped through her sobs, "And they ruined my castle!"

"Well you're stupid for even being in our spot!" the second cat spoke, this one with a white spot on the top of his head, "Girls don't need to play in the sandbox anyway. Go play with your stupid dolls!"

"Now that's something you really shouldn't tell a girl."

Susannah glanced over to her right to find another raccoon standing right beside her. She had been so busy with the children that she failed to even notice him walking up beside her. His attire was odd for someone on a nice day like this.

A black hoodie, brown hiker boots and black slacks that was sure to have been uncomfortable to wear in warm weather and oddly enough had the hood of his hoodie up as far as it could go over his head. While she would be cautious of the other coon, she didn't say a word as he continued to speak to the three boys.

"You shouldn't call anyone stupid, especially girls. It's not polite."

"But they are!" the taller boy protested, "They just sit around and play with their dolls. They can't play stuff like pirates, cowboys or knights!"

"Now that's a little mean," Susannah spoke up and pointed to herself, "I used to play all that stuff all the time when I was your age."

At that the mouse looked up at her, "R-Really?"

The female raccoon smiled before dramatically tossing her braid back and holding a hand up, "I am Lady Blake! Beware for I am not any lady you have ever seen before. For I slay dragons by one strike with my mighty blade!" The mouse immediately giggled at her display before getting up from the sand and rushing over to her, "I-I wanna slay dragons too!"

"And you can," Susannah told her and lightly brushed off the rest of the sand off the girl's hair, "Don't let anyone tell you you can't." The male raccoon beside her spoke up as well as he continued to look down at the three cats in front of him.

"And knights should treat ladies, especially those who are knights too, with respect...Think you can let her play with you fellas, without you saying she's stupid or kicking sand at her?" he asked them as they glanced at each other. Susannah watched as they quickly looked at the mouse again, her tears dried and her hands gripping hard at the skirt of her jumper.

"...How fast are you on the jungle gym?" the tallest boy asked her and she huffed, "I can climb all the way to the top a lot faster than you."

The boy only smirked before running to the area, "Race you! If you beat me then you can join!"

"You're on!" the girl yelled and dashed after him leaving the other two boys in stunned silence. Susannah and the other raccoon chuckled as they snapped out of their confusion and hurried after the mouse and their friend.

"Guess we solved that pretty well," her companion commented as she shrugged, "I must say, you would make quite a lady knight."

"You flatter me good sir," she lightly chuckled and placed her braid back over her shoulder, "I can't say you didn't do well on your part. Thank you for helping me." The other raccoon shrugged and she could make out a small grin from where his hood revealed the lower portion of his face, "All in a day's work...I'm usually around the park, but I've never seen you around."

"I only moved here recently," Susannah told him before resting her hands on her hips, "Name's Susannah Blake...Think I could get your name fellow knight?"

She could faintly hear a snicker escape his lips and he quickly raised a hand to cover his mouth, "Depends...You won't go disappearing into the sunset at the end of the day if I do?"

"I'm not the type to just disappear," she replied and tilted her hip to the right as she leaned a little to try to catch a glimpse of his face only to just find the hood very well placed over his head to only reveal his nose and mouth, "You on the other hand...I should be the one worried about you disappearing on me." The grin on his face only grew as he began to walk away from her, "Well just call me 'handsome' and I'll call you 'beautiful.' I'm sure we'll be meeting again...Milady."

With that Susannah's face felt rather warm as she watched the other raccoon bow to her turning away with a wave as he disappeared down the path out of the park. For a moment she felt hotter than she was suppose to be and glanced behind her just in time to see the young mouse cheer happily on her perch on the top of the jungle gym. The cat boys were staring up at her with wide eyes and Susannah waved at the victorious little girl when their eyes met.

This day was going very well.

* * *

 _ **Again I made this chapter and hoped that it would turn out okay! Next chapter, the first heist! What is M's little new invention and how will the night turn out?!**_

 _ **Until then~!**_


	7. Party Crashers

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SLY COOPER! NOPE NO OWNAGE NOPE!**

 _ **My head hit the desk so many times this chapter! I'm so sorry it took so long to update!**_

 **Note: An apology for any and all missed spelling or grammatical errors I may have missed during my editing!**

* * *

 **Paris, France**

 **10:23 PM**

 **Jewelry Exhibition**

He yanked at the tie around his neck and stood stiffly in front of the staircase as he took in his surroundings. Around him were other officers, some dressed in their typical security guard uniforms while others wearing suits to blend in with the party goers. He on the other hand while in a suit had traded the blazer for his trade mark duster, though he couldn't escape the requirement that he needed to wear a tie.

Emilio was never one for large fancy events, that was why he was often found far away from the bustle of high class guest and overly too bright lights from the chandeliers that hung from the ceiling on certain assignments. He rather work in the shadows than be out in the open where he could socialize...The fox tugged at his tie again and let out a sigh as he lifted up his walkie talkie from his pocket, "Inspector Blake?"

There was a cackle of static before Susannah's voice spoke up, "Yes Inspector Fox? I've just checked the second floor again, so far nothing to report."

"Good to hear...Now save me."

There was a pause before he could hear her snickering on her end and he let out a low groan, "No, seriously. Save me. I can't stand staying in one spot alone in a place like this."

"Roger that, I'll be down in a second. Stay strong...Emilio."

The fox blinked in surprise at how she spoke his name, but he quietly chuckled as he pocketed his walkie talkie. It felt good to hear her say his first name again, though it didn't make his heartbeat as fast as it used to...Either way he was glad she and him were on track on being friends again. He let out a sigh of relief to know she would be coming down soon before jolting up a bit upon hearing someone call out to him.

"Inspector Fox! Just the man I wanted to see!"

Emilio turned around to see a black hare walking towards him, a large tiger in a black suit trailing after him making the fox's shoulders tense up as he stared at the two. The hare was Kaitou Hare who was in charge of the jewelry exhibition.

While his work did put him under INTERPOL's radar, but Emilio could not pursue after the other with the amount of protection the other had acquired from his adoptive family. That, and at the moment this job was to protect the jewels of the party...He could not attempt to stray from his position and forced a smile upon his face as the other offered him his hand to shake. "I take it there's nothing wrong yet?" he questioned as he allowed his hand to grasp the other's and gave a firm hand shake.

"Oh no, no!" Kaitou laughed and lightly patted the inspector on the shoulder, "I just wanted to be certain that you're alright. I understand keeping guard might be a little bit boring."

"Not at all," Emilio politely replied with a wide grin, "I'm only doing my job."

"No, no my dear inspector! You and your men are doing good work for me. It's only right that I extend a hand and offer you perhaps a break," the hare happily chuckled. Emilio continued to keep his smile up though he felt a very uncomfortable feeling deep in his stomach. Considering how Kaitou had failed to also address Susannah who had introduced herself alongside him at the very start of their assignment.

The hare kept all his focus on him despite her presence and Emilio felt a heavier guilt press down upon him for his earlier treatment towards her back at headquarters and from the last assignment at the gallery. His fellow INTERPOL officer only had took the lack of recognition with a small smile and nod before departing off to the second floor to handle their officers stationed up. Emilio honestly felt that her leave was more of a means to escape the awkward conversation he was then forced to endure with Kaitou and wished he had spoke up.

Kaitou had obviously seemed to only view him as the prime head of his security operations and completely ignored Susannah despite the female raccoon openly displaying acts of leadership among the officers as well as attempting to question Kaitou a few times about certain spots in the building which the hare ignored. Emilio was forced to ask for her and he had been surprised at how Susannah for the most part did not complain. It was as if she had been prepared for Kaitou's actions towards her and merely kept herself in check.

He on the other hand was desperately trying not to growl at the hare as he was forced to once again listen to the hare go on and on about jewelry.

"I don't need a break sir," the fox finally spoke up at last before nodding towards the crowd, "Mingling isn't quite my thing. I'll keep myself right here thank you."

"Nonsense! Surely you enjoy a sip of wine now and again."

"While off duty," Emilio nearly snarled out the words, but kept his mouth as closed as possible to allow the words out, "Now if you don't mind sir...I would like to keep an eye out still. You may enjoy yourself, it is your event after all."

"Peh, I cannot really enjoy myself with the very thought someone would think to steal these precious heirlooms!"

Emilio refrained himself from rolling his eyes as the hare took a long sip of his red wine before handing it off to his bodyguard. "With all due respect sir...We never did quite say they would be stolen. Just the possibility."

"All the same...It would break my heart to see these wonderful gems taken right under our noses," Kaitou continued as he adjusted his tie, "Well, if you must continue on guard Inspector Fox please be assured if you wish for a rest you are welcomed to take part in the festivities."

The fox gave the hare a nod and watched as he went away, an exhale escaping him as soon as the other was out of earshot. At this point he had actually hoped Cooper would have made an entrance while he was conversating with the hare.

"I'm surprised you didn't bare your teeth at him."

"Oh that certainly did cross my mind, but you know professionalism," Emilio chuckled as he felt himself become more relaxed at Susannah's arrival, "So I take it you weren't having trouble with the second floor?"

"Not at all," the female raccoon smiled as she looked over at party, "I have to say, I've never saw a party this grand in a while."

"Get used to it," Emilio sighed as he tugged at his tie again, "Whenever there's a party like this you can guarantee that Cooper and his buddies will show up. Especially if it's being hosted by someone as shady as Kaitou." Susannah raised an eyebrow at him before letting out a sigh as she watched him struggle with his tie that was now far too loose than it had before.

"You still hate to wear those? How can anyone take you seriously?" she questioned as he angrily began to untie the darn thing and tried to hastily redo it, "Inspector Fox-"

"No, no I got it," he quickly hissed as he began to painfully become aware he had looped it the wrong way and was forced to start over again.

"This is getting too painful to watch, let me do it."

Emilio once again held up his hand, but sighed as he could feel Susannah merely shove it aside and grabbed hold of the dark navy blue fabric in her fingers. He remained silent as she went to work occasionally glancing down at her as she concentrated on his tie. "A few years go by and you still haven't learned to do these things yourself," she lightly scolded him and patted him hard on the chest as she finished, "Just how did you get by?"

"Avoid all social gatherings and be a hermit," he answered and flinched as she punched him on the arm, "Ow!"

"Chin up Fox, what would headquarters say if they saw you like this?" Susannah laughed as she took a quick glance out through the party, "I have to say...I'm surprised you actually let me cover more than the gallery assignment."

Emilio nervously let out a chuckle at her words before sighing, "I...Apologize for my earlier treatment to you Susannah."

A quiet chuckle and another punch to his arm, this one lighter, as Susannah gives him a sad grin, "No...I probably made you uncomfortable now that I think about it. My transfer was sudden and...When we left off, I have to say it wasn't the best so..." A hand is offered to him and his mouth twitches as he allows his fingers to wrap around her own and they shake, "Let's get Cooper together...Alright?"

"Right," he breathes out a sigh of relief as he glances at his watch and frowns.

Nothing had happened in account to disturbances, so what was Cooper doing right now?

* * *

The bright lights, the glamorous patrons...Ah.

This was indeed a high class event for only the right high class people.

Connor grinned from his perch as he balanced himself against one of the building's tall window's sill as he studied the party below him. He let out a slight scoff as his eyes trained on every piece of jewelry shining underneath the crystal chandeliers. Any other night he wouldn't mind snagging a few, but he didn't miss the obvious uniformed INTERPOL agents stationed alongside the walls of the ballroom. It wouldn't surprise him to know there were a few other agents around only in disguise.

An old trick of Inspector Fox's, but Connor already knew how the fox played.

His target wouldn't be the jewelry on the models though.

Stepping back a bit Connor pressed himself against the wall before changing his position onto the next window sill and pressed his finger against his ear piece as he heard static, "M? You there?"

"All settled," the mandrill replied and Connor could faintly hear the sounds of keys on a keyboard being pressed, "How do things look on your end?"

"The party is in full swing," Connor answered as he carefully crouched down and peered through the window glass, "I spot a few of our favorite law enforcers hanging around the walls and you can bet there's a few of them being guest."

"Not surprising considering how Fox plays," M sighed before another set of keys were pressed loudly, "It wouldn't quite be a party without them being invited. Is there a way for you to go inside?"

The raccoon continued to study the room in silence.

The windows just behind the main staircase seemed to be his ticket inside and by the looks of it, he could easily slip out of sight and into the basement if he was careful.

Connor opened his mouth to inform his friend, but stopped as he notice two figures in front of the stairs. Despite the tie on him, Connor could easily see Inspector Fox in the front of the staircase along with Inspector Blake, no, Susannah.

The raccoon was wearing all black compared to her much lighter grey attire from the park that late afternoon. It really didn't surprise him that she had worn a pantsuit then and even now in a pair of black slacks with tucked in black dress shirt, it didn't take away any of her femininity and actually looked rather attractive on her. The only article of clothing that had color was her tie which was a dark teal blue shade. Her usual braid was resting over her left shoulder as the sleeves of her black leather jacket creased as she placed her hands on her hips as she spoke to Inspector Fox.

From his perch he couldn't quite make out the words exchanged between the two INTERPOL inspectors, but whatever they were talking about had the two smiling and laughing.

Connor frowned a bit as he watched Susannah lightly pat the fox on the shoulder before nodding her head towards the stairs and felt his shoulders twitch as Inspector Fox shook his head, but gave Susannah a smile that the thief had rarely seen on the INTERPOL officer before as she went up the stairs. Something was different between the two of them and compared to how the inspector was at the art museum, Inspector Fox seemed much more relaxed and Susannah seemed to be getting along just fine with her ex-partner.

Had something happen?

Connor had been certain there had been some sort of tension between the two with how Inspector Fox had been that night at the art museum and how Susannah's records over their separation detailed how it was so sudden.

For some reason seeing the two being chummy made him uncomfortable as odd as it was.

His fingers tightened around his cane as he stared at Inspector Fox and could feel his teeth grind lightly as he took in the fox's smile after the female raccoon had left him. Just what happened?

"Connor? Connor? Hello?!"

"Huh? What?"

He nearly forgot about M after staring at the two inspectors and cleared his throat, "Sorry M I was scanning the room to see if there's a way I can get in. It looks like I can slide in through one of the windows behind the main staircase and make it to the basement door that should be hidden behind. I just spotted Inspector Fox though by it, along with the other inspector. I think you remember her? The one that chased me all the way to the truck at the gallery?"

"Oh yes, I do remember her," M groaned and Connor could just picture his teammate shuddering, "Gave us quite a scare..."

"I wouldn't say that exactly," Connor protested lightly as he managed to hold back a sigh of relief that M hadn't noticed his little white lie. The last thing he needed was a scolding from the other right now and blinked when he realized that Inspector Fox hadn't walked away from the stairs after Susannah had left him. Never had the raccoon saw the fox remain in one position and lightly hit himself on the forehead to be certain his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"Uh M, Fox isn't moving from the first floor, but the other inspector did..."

"Wait what?" M's tone went a bit higher in pitch making Connor wince at the sound, "Easy there buddy, hearing..."

"B-But that fox never stays in one spot, does that mean..."

"It looks like that other inspector's got more ground than last time," Connor couldn't hold back a chuckle as he wondered if he would have the lovely chance to run into her tonight, "Can't believe he gave someone more power over an assignment like this. It's a miracle and pretty refreshing."

On the other end he could hear M let out a whine and something lightly hitting something hard, most likely M's forehead to the keyboard. Connor rolled his eyes as he once again stepped away from the window and began to slowly move towards the next, "Don't be so dramatic M. C'mon live a little, it's never fun when it's always Fox chasing us."

It was never fun just to have Fox on their case all the time.

The many past agents that had went after them didn't last so long and while Connor applauded Fox for staying on his tail for so long it had gotten a little boring having him be the cat in their little game. Susannah was just what was needed to spice things up and Connor wasn't exactly complaining as M was about this. She had an obviously good sense of justice as he had seen earlier that day in the park as she confronted the kids for their bullying. There was a gentleness in her through that tough cop facade and he wondered just how many other expressions and emotions he would see in her.

His lips twitched a bit now that the possibility of running into the female raccoon was higher than before. He wouldn't mind having behind chased by her with that angry look on her face, not to say her smile wasn't as charming.

"Well, yes...I guess," M's voice interrupted his thoughts again as he agreed with Connor's earlier statement though the raccoon could tell he was partly amused, "At least we don't need to worry about Fox being our main target of concern. This new inspector though uh...She's that raccoon with that flare gun wasn't she?"

"The very same one," Connor held back a chuckle as he continued to slide across the wall, "Don't worry about me running into her M, I can handle her just fine. She barely even got a good shot at me the last time we encountered and we did give her the slip."

"I wouldn't be calling it that Connor. It was more like a close call and has been a nightmare of mine since that heist. Jim and I were having instant heart attacks upon seeing a feral she-raccoon with a gun firing right at you as you jumped into the truck," M replied to which Connor rolled his eyes.

By now he was just a few feet away from the windows and he stopped for a moment to pick out the right window to go through. "Well while you keep worrying over that," he spoke up as he positioned himself in just the right spot, "When's that distraction coming in? I can't exactly slip inside without someone noticing with the lights are still on."

"Ah yes, Jim should be getting into position quite soon," M replied and the pressing of keys returned, "Just stay put and be ready for action when its time."

"Got it, hopefully this new gizmo of yours was worth the wait," Connor lightly chuckled and focused his attention back out towards the ballroom, his eyes trained on the back of Inspector Fox as he waited for his next course of action.

* * *

Susannah sighed to herself as she glanced at her wristwatch as she went down the second floor hall for the tenth time that night. While she had expected Emilio to gain attention from their current client it still slightly annoyed her just at how the hare had barely even given her a glance.

It wasn't the first time she had been openly ignored and she merely went about her business in hopes that maybe Kaitou would at least notice she was also partnered up with Emilio to handle security. Just meeting the hare in person after reading his file back in her office sent her on edge. She didn't like him and she couldn't blame Emilio either when she saw how tense he had become as he was forced to talk with the hare.

For goodness sake, she sighed again before taking a quick glance down the end corridor before turning on her heel and marching back towards the other end. If she had met the hare any other time, Susannah would certainly like to dirty that ridiculously frilly suit of his by dragging him to the dirt.

Her face quickly shifted from annoyance to amuse at that thought as a quiet chuckle left her lips. Ah...That would be nice. Especially considering how she felt the hare was hiding something...

She stopped her train of thoughts in time as she passed a few officers and quickly waved at them as they strolled through the halls with precision in a way a tinker toy moved. At least those on assignment with her were much more polite and considerate to her than how she first started.

Emilio had gone out of his way enough to ensure that she felt like a part of his team and the raccoon lightly chuckled while shaking her head.

It was nice at least and Emilio was definitely communicating better with her now. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear she slowly halted to a stop again to glance at her watch only to freeze as a soft whooshing sound was heard and suddenly, darkness.

From the first floor she could hear panic and immediately made a grab for her walkie talkie just in time as Emilio's voice came up on the other end.

"Black out!"

Her tail sprung up as she heard a few of her officers further down the hallway yelling before taking off in that direction, "We got trouble up on the second floor Inspector Fox!" she yelled as she watched a few INTERPOL officers run ahead of her, "What's going on downstairs?!"

"Everyone's in a panic, we're trying to control the situation here," Emilio replied, "Inspector Blake, what's going on upstairs?"

"That's what I'm about to find out," Susannah answered as she skidded to a stop and grabbed an arm of another fellow officer, "What's going on?"

"Inspector Blake," the badger saluted to her before pointing down the hall he was heading towards, "Someone tempered with the building's fuse box. The main power has been cut off and apparently it seems that walrus from the Cooper Gang might have been the cause of it."

Susannah's breath went up a hitch as she slowly brought a hand to her face and groaned, of course! The darn source of energy was on the second floor!

The night had been way too easy and she should have seen this coming...

Quickly she patted the other on the shoulder, "The only way to get the power back on is going down to the basement, can I allow you to handle the situation up here while I go and inform Inspector Fox what's going on. I want all officers to try and catch that walrus. He can't get too far on this floor."

"Ma'am yes ma'am!"

She saluted the other before running off towards the stairs all the while fumbling in the dark for her flare gun before stopping on the first few steps going down.

The moonlight illuminated the staircase well, but not too much allowing her to faintly notice the figure opening one of the windows overlooking the ballroom. She squinted before noticing the cane in the figures hand as it jumped from the window into the darkness behind the staircase.

Her lips pulled back as she fought back a need to snarl as she realized just who had slipped into the building before storming down the steps and quickly caught Emilio by his arm as he started to leave his post, "Black out is Cooper's distraction," she hissed as she nodded towards the staircase, "He went to the door leading down to the basement, his lackey is upstairs and shouldn't be trouble to catch."

"Which lackey is it?" Emilio questioned as he took out his shock pistol as Susannah tried to tune out the party goers who were being way over dramatic with their crying and frantic questions on how the lights were off, "It's the walrus," she replied as she began to make her way towards the basement, "I'm going to get him. Do-"

"I'll handle the situation upstairs and here," Emilio quickly spoke up and patted her on the shoulder, "Be sure to get in a few good shots for me...Will ya Susannah?"

She stared at him, even in the darkness she could make out a grin as she gently squeezed his shoulder in response, "Keep it under control Emilio."

"Don't I always?" Susannah just laughed as she took off, "If anyone gives you trouble, give 'em hell."

* * *

 ** _Again, I hit my head a number of times before I posted this. I had a lot of difficulty in this chapter in terms of setting up. I hope you all enjoyed this long awaited update! Again I apologize!_**

 ** _Well the stage is set, let's see how this heist goes!_**

 ** _Until then~! Thank you all for reading and I hoped you enjoy!_**


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